Russia names its priority in relations with Azerbaijan amid rift
On Tuesday, a court in Baku ordered the four-month pre-trial detention of two Russian journalists who hold senior positions in Sputnik Azerbaijan news agency. The country's authorities claim the outlet has been operating 'through illegal financing,' with Sputnik dismissing the allegations as 'absurd.' Moscow has accused Baku of 'hostile actions and unlawful detention of Russian journalists.'
The arrests followed a police raid last week on an alleged ethnic organized crime group in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, composed of Russian nationals of Azerbaijani origin. Two elderly suspects died during the operation, with the preliminary assessment indicating that at least one of them suffered heart failure. The incident sparked outrage among Azerbaijani politicians, who accused Moscow of targeting people based on ethnicity.
Speaking to Sputnik Radio on Wednesday, Zakharova said that the reaction to the rift in both Russia and Azerbaijan is 'acute' because the two countries have been 'building such relations… for many years, which are based on taking mutual interests into account and respect.'
According to the spokeswoman, the ties between the peoples of the countries, which used to be part of the Soviet Union, are also very close. 'There are families and history, there is… mutual enrichment of cultures, and there are business connections in different areas,' she explained.
'For the two peoples, friendly relations are of paramount importance. And those who are looking to spoil them should think carefully about what they are doing,' Zakharova said without elaborating.
There are those who want 'to simply make money' by creating tensions between Moscow and Baku, she added, warning that they may well end up 'getting burned.'
The spokeswoman also said that it was 'extremely important' that the Russian Investigative Committee immediately ordered a probe into the deaths of suspects during the police raid in Yekaterinburg. The authorities in Baku should 'take this into account,' she insisted.
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